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NIGERIA: Claims some Schoolgirls chose not to be Rescued

18 May 2017

Boko Haram released a video on 12 May claiming to show Chibok schoolgirls who refused to be rescued as part of last week’s swap deal that saw 82 girls freed by the Nigerian government.

In the three-minute video, a girl dressed in a veil and holding a gun says she is Maida Yakubu, one of 276 schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram in April 2014, reports Al Jazeera. Three other girls in veils sit behind her. When asked by a man in the background why she doesn’t want to go back home to her parents, she replies: “The reason is that they live in the town of unbelief. We want them to accept Islam”.

Presidential spokesman Garba Shehu disclosed after the 82 were released that one girl had refused to leave. She declined to be part of the release deal because she had married a Boko Haram fighter, Shehu said.

Boko Haram released a second video on the same day claiming to show five commanders that the Nigerian government freed in exchange for the 82.

The released girls have still not been reunited with their families but are receiving medical care. A government official has said the girls were being kept away from their families and friends for security reasons.

An estimated 113 Chibok schoolgirls are unaccounted for.

Source: World Watch Monitor

Commit to the Lord these girls and pray for them as they recover from their traumatic ordeal, pray it will not be too long before they see their families.

Pray for the Chibok girls still missing and the thousands more people who have suffered violent attacks and abductions at the hands of Boko Haram.

Pray for those in authority in Nigeria, ask the Lord to grant them wisdom and strength; may He use them for His good purposes to bless the people of Nigeria.